Again a new year is about to arrive. And it's time to bid adieu to the old one. In the field of marketing, 2014 has been an amazing year. Different changes occurred, which helped to take the process of business marketing a few steps ahead. Similar changes occurred in the world of social media as well. And many of them have impacted the way business marketing is performed.
So, what changes occurred in social media in 2014? What were the primary transformations that helped to enhance the process of social media marketing for businesses during this year?
Here's a quick look at some of them.
Visual Marketing Became Important
A picture speaks a thousand words: this overused phrase might appear cliché now. But it's becoming more and more relevant when it comes to internet marketing, including marketing through the social media platforms. People hardly have time to go through pages of text. So, it's important to reach out to them visually, which takes less time and is more effective.
According to psychologist Albert Mehrabian, 93% of the communication of human brain is done in a non-verbal manner. In his book Ways of Seeing, John Berger says, "Seeing comes before words. The child looks and recognizes before it can speak." This is because, people are able to decode images faster than words. So, an image is expected to be more effective for marketing a product or service. This was kept in mind as the social media marketing practices demanded the use of more images for marketing products and services.
Videos Became More Significant
In line with the trend of increasing importance for images, the videos also turned out to a game changer for the marketers. Several websites emerged, which enabled the creation and sharing of small videos of about 15 seconds each. The companies focused on creating content, which are not directly promotional. And it paid off pretty well.
Sites, such as Instagram, which offered more control to the users, ensured that the marketers can add captions to the videos and change them, if necessary, even after posting it. This played a major role in making the videos more relevant for the viewers, thus increasing the views significantly.
Direct Conversation with Customers Helped Businesses
It has not been long since the businesses have ventured into social media marketing. And it has helped them significantly. Initially, social media was also being considered as a platform, which can help just to advertise the products and services. But that was only a part of what social media could offer the businesses. There was more to it.
Social media turned out to be one of the best platforms for the businesses to connect with their customers. And the result was huge. These platforms facilitated direct communication with the customers. And it was no more a one way communication for businesses. Earlier, the communication was more like advertisements. But in 2014, the businesses started focusing more on direct conversation with the customers. This enabled them to get direct feedback from the customers. Thus, they could now make changes to the products and services to make them comply to the customer requirements. The result, of course, was more sales and success.
Paid Advertisements Became Effective
"Social media will become a larger focus for advertising investment, especially with the news that Facebook will now block free adverts", Andrew Harrault, the Lead Strategist at Connective Insights had predicted. And it turned out to be correct. Free advertisements on social media platforms were not fetching enough results. Paid advertisements turned out to be the solutions. And as it started delivering the desired results, more and more businesses started using it. This trend is expected to continue in near future as well.
So, businesses are likely to fetch the best results from the paid advertisements on social media. But it is expected to make the process of social media marketing difficult for small and medium businesses, which were able to use social media effectively earlier to spread the word about their products and services among their target audience.
Social Media Apps Ruled
In 2014, a significant part of social media marketing was all about apps. With the emergence of smartphones and internet-friendly mobile devices, people started making full use of the apps. Many of these social media apps were designed to connect with people, friends, and family. Others were meant to facilitate social media marketing. This change in social media came in line with the constant advancements in the field of information and technology.
Social media is evolving constantly. And 2014 was only a part in the continuous process. The changes that emerged in social media during the year are expected to remain relevant in years to come. Besides, other changes will also emerge in future, which will help to shape the social media platforms for better experiences of the users.
Image Courtesy: www.business2community.com